Light gray

#cdc9c6

Hex, rgb, cmyk and Pantone values for light gray, with shades, tints, matching colors and free print quality patterns.

Light gray is a near neutral, light with barely any hue. Neutrals like this hold a palette together quietly. It works under any accent color, holding a scheme together without competing.

Light gray color values

Every conversion for #cdc9c6, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#cdc9c6

RGB205, 201, 198

HSL26, 7%, 79%

HSV26, 3%, 80%

CMYK0%, 2%, 3%, 20%

Lab81.2, 0.85, 1.98

XYZ56.26, 58.83, 61.82

Decimal13486534

Web safe#cccccc

Pantone428 C

Shades of light gray

#bcb6b2 #aaa39e #99918a #877e77 #736b65 #605954 #4c4643 #383431 #242220 #100f0e

Tints of light gray

#d5d2cf #dedbd9 #e6e4e2 #eeedec #f7f6f5

Colors that go with light gray

Complementary#c6cacd Analogous#cdc6c7 Analogous#cdcdc6 Triadic#c6cdc9 Triadic#c9c6cd Split complementary#c6cdcc Split complementary#c6c7cd

Light gray in print

It sits in a comfortable part of the gamut and reproduces reliably on press. The cmyk build is 0, 2, 3, 20.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #cdc9c6 on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

0 2 3 20

Ink sits on the surface, so colors stay bright and close to screen.

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

4 6 7 26

The stock absorbs ink and gains dot, so it needs a heavier build and reads a touch softer.

This color converts to cmyk comfortably and should hold on press.

See how it converts in the rgb to cmyk converter, or read rgb vs cmyk for print and what the k in cmyk means.

Light gray in css

Copy #cdc9c6 straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #cdc9c6; }
.text { color: #cdc9c6; }
.border { border: 2px solid #cdc9c6; }

How light gray looks on light and dark

Sample text on black

Sample text on white

Text on this color

Light gray and accessibility

Contrast ratios for #cdc9c6 against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #cdc9c6 against any other color, not just black and white, run the pair through our contrast checker for a live WCAG reading.

Light gray on a business card, sticker and pattern

A quick look at how #cdc9c6 sits on real print products. Start any of these in the maker.

Business card

Sticker

Repeat pattern

Building a full palette around light gray? Pull matching colors from any photo with the color palette generator, or check a design for print with the rgb to cmyk converter.

Turn light gray into a seamless pattern

Four patterns built from #cdc9c6 and its shades, free at print quality. Click any one to keep editing in the pattern maker.

Arches Signature stripes Gem Shingles

Make posters, wallpaper and packaging art from light gray, free and print ready.

Open in pattern maker

How we calculate these values

The figures for #cdc9c6 come from standard color math, shown so you can check them. Rgb, hsl, hsv, lab and xyz are derived through the usual sRGB conversion formulas. Two cmyk builds are shown because coated and uncoated papers behave differently, uncoated soaks up ink and needs more of it to hit the same target. The Pantone value is the closest reference by perceptual color distance and should be treated as a starting point, not a guaranteed match.